The maintenance of service quality all along the distribution channel is critical to a manufacturer because the customer doesn’t care where or why there was a problem with the product, he only cares that the product does what is it supposed to do. When there is a problem with the product, the consumer blames the manufacturer.
“End-User Consumer Channels,” presents five ways that goods get from a manufacturer to the consumer.
There are two similar channels:
Manufacturer - - Wholesaler - - - Retailer - - End-Use Consumer and
Manufacturer - - Agent - - - - - - Retailer - - End-Use Consumer
How can a manufacturer assure consistent quality in both channels? What are the differences in what a manufacturer must do to assure consistent quality in each?